THE capacities of Sincil Bank and the Weston Homes Community Stadium are roughly the same – but that’s where the similarities appear to end.

Lincoln City’s home ground is ageing – unlike the U’s decade-old home - and Colchester hadn’t been there in almost 20 years, but their return came amid a raucous and passionate atmosphere that drove the Imps on to victory.

Among the 9,211 packed in were 325 Colchester fans and they made themselves heard with impressive effect, but it was a constant battle against a cacophony of noise from the home support.

What the U’s would have given for a crowd such as that at some of their home games this year when they have struggled to make it to a third of what Lincoln packed in.

Sincil Bank and the Community Stadium have similar capacities of about 10,000 but the number of those prepared to part with hard-earned cash appears to be very different.

It wasn’t always so for the Imps, though, and they are clearly riding a wave of enthusiasm at the moment.

For too many years, the club was underachieving as they languished – and that’s an apt word to use for a club their size – in non-league football and interest fell.

When Braintree Town visited in the National League last season, there was nowhere near the crowd that flocked to see them face the U’s, but you could see it building.

There is a buzz around Lincoln about their football team and that manifests itself in them getting close to capacity for Colchester United coming to town.

The success of the team on the pitch helps obviously.

Lincoln had a long FA Cup run last year and promotion from the National League back into the Football League and have followed it this year with a Checkatrade Trophy win at Wembley recently and pressing for the League Two play-offs.

That will draw a good number in, but the club are promoting themselves effectively around the town to build that buzz further.

Imps boss Danny Cowley and his assistant manager - brother Nicky - are wonderful readers of people and they know how to engage those who they come into contact with.

Right from the start of their time in charge at Sincil Bank, they and their club connected with the community across Lincoln and they are seeing the benefits of that now.

The U’s have community projects but is there more that they can do?

I don’t know, but they do need to make sure they are really getting the people of Colchester enthused about them.

Success on the pitch will help further, but now is the time to engage everyone in the town to get them really wanting to support their local team.

Lincoln are clearly doing that and there’s surely no reason why the U’s can’t take a leaf from the Imps book.